Phones

iPhone 6 May Come with Optical Image Stabilization, Rumor Says

Although, Apple has seemingly been bullish in sticking with an 8-megapixel camera sensor for its iPhones when most other flagship rear shooters are now in double digits, the company has made sure to bake in some improvements that back up the belief that megapixels are just numbers, and not a true benchmark for camera quality. That could be the case with the iPhone 6, as a new report claims Apple may be baking optical image stabilization in its next flagship’s rear camera.

Earlier in 2014, a patent was unearthed, suggesting that Apple may be including OIS on a future iPhone, allowing it to “keep up with the Joneses”, as phones like the LG G2, the Nexus 5 and Nokia’s Lumia 1020 camera phone have such a feature.

Now, it would appear that Apple is looking to tie up with a supplier that would provide gyroscopes to Apple, thereby allowing for the iPhone 6 to sport OIS. According to investment site The Motley Fool, this potential partnership with InvenSense has not yet been confirmed, but then again, suppliers usually play their cards close to their chest when it comes to tie-ups with smartphone manufacturers.

If the report is accurate, this could mean the iPhone 6 could give the Samsung Galaxy S5’s rear camera a run for its money; the Galaxy S5 sports a 16-megapixel rear camera, up from 13 megapixels on the Galaxy S4, but it doesn’t come with OIS. Instead, the Galaxy S5’s camera has a faster autofocus as a key selling point.

As for Apple, the iPhone 6 could add another strength to go with the better low-light performance that comes as a feature/advantage of the iPhone 5s’ rear shooter. Megapixel rating, on the other hand, remains up in the air; some rumors suggest an 8-megapixel sensor, while others seem to agree a 10-megapixel sensor would be more likely.